Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held on Wednesday 7 May 2003 at The Castle, Winchester.

PRESENT:

Councillors: J.K. Glen (Chairman); Mrs E.S.M. Barron; J.E. Coles; C.R.H. Davidovitz; Mrs P.M. Devereux; W.J. Filer, M.S. Geddes; K. House; R.J. Kimber; T.G. Knight; R.H. Price; P. Luffman; M.J. Roberts; Sir James J. Scott; J.D. Shaw; J.K. West; Miss J.D. Wride

Also in attendance for part of the meeting: Councillor M.J. Woodhall

127. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate declare their interest, and having regards to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

128. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2003 (Item 2 in the Minute Book) were confirmed by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising thereon:-

Minute 126: Sustainable Communities: "Building for the Future" - Councillor Shaw requested an update in respect of the resolution agreed on 5 March. The Chairman confirmed that a further report on Sustainable Communities would be discussed later in the proceedings.

129. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(i) Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative (HNRI) - the consultation on, and changes to legislation with regard to the environment were changing rapidly and it was vital that the County Council responded to any consultation and amended working practices to take account of new and forthcoming legislation. In having regard to this, the Chairman announced that the HNRI team would keep Members of the Committee up to date on the very wide range of consultation and legislative changes by e-mailing them information on a regular basis prior to each meeting. Key information would be highlighted so that Members were able to follow the web links to enable them to find out more information if they wished. The officer in the Environment Department who would be the first point of contact was: Campbell Williams, direct line telephone number (01962) 845661 or e-mail address: [email protected].

(ii) The Chairman introduced Chelsea Duke, Senior Personnel Adviser supporting the Environment Department. Chelsea had recently won a national award for a new recruitment strategy she had devised to tackle the problem of recruiting civil engineers and transportation specialists. Chelsea gave an informative overview of the recruitment strategy and answered Members questions. The Committee congratulated Chelsea on her award and thanked her for attending the meeting.

130. MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

No questions to the Executive Member for Environment had been submitted.

131. DEPUTATIONS

No request to make a deputation had been received.

132. WASTE AND NATURAL RESOURCES BUSINESS PLANS 2003/04

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) summarising the 2003/04 Business Plans for Project Integra (PI), the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative (HNRI) and the Waste Management section. It was noted that the primary purpose of the report was to seek comments on the PI Business Plan which set out the current mission, vision and objectives although the need for a renewed vision to be developed was recognised. For the purpose of clarity, it was noted that with regard to table 1 on page 6, the figure for green waste current operational capacity should be 56,000 tonnes in line with the figure quoted in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

The Director of Environment emphasised that waste minimisation was the primary aim for dealing with waste, which was growing at a national rate of 4%. A Government target had been set to reduce growth to 2%. The Government had also announced funding of £30m over three years to raise waste awareness nationally which had been well received. An approach to the packaging industry was also being investigated in order to try to secure some funding for research purposes. Members commented that increased investment and education to raise awareness and avoid confusion were key elements in the battle to reduce waste and to gain the confidence of the public.

In respect of financial matters, attention was drawn to paragraph 2 of the report's appendix which detailed a proposed change to the funding of the PI Executive and Support functions, which were to be entirely by subscription. The perceived benefits of this change were twofold in that funding would be on an equitable per capita basis and it would protect the core Project Integra functions from the vagaries of the market.

In response to Members questions, Environment officers reported that progress was being made with the Alton Materials Recovery Facility and despite some difficulties in buying extra capacity, the problems with landfilling of recyclables had hopefully now been resolved.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Executive Member for Environment be informed of the comments on the Project Integra Business Plan 2003/04.

2. That in order to assist Members in having a better understanding of the financial aspects of waste management, a briefing session be convened.

3. That progress reports on waste and natural resources be submitted to the Committee every six months.

4. That a Member tour of various sites, including the Chineham Incinerator, be set up in due course.

133. `SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE' - STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 7 in the Minute Book) detailing the key proposals put forward in the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister on 5 February 2003 in publishing `Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future', also known as the Communities Plan. The Committee had considered an initial report at their meeting on 5 March 2003 at which it was noted that a fuller report would be submitted to the 7 May meeting.

The Chief Executive drew Members' attention to paragraph 3 of the report detailing that the Plan was not a consultation document therefore there was no formal process for responding, although the County Council could send their comments to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Whilst recognising this, Members were aware that other agencies had expressed views on the proposals to the Deputy Prime Minister. It was therefore felt that the County Council should make a response raising concerns over:-

(a) the proposed changes to Local Authority Social Housing Grant;

(b) the lack of clarity in terms of infrastructure investment to support the proposals;

(d) the nature of the proposed Regional Housing Boards.

RESOLVED:

That the comments of the Committee detailed above be noted for inclusion in a report to Cabinet on 27 May 2003.

134. OUTCOME REPORT OF THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN THE ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) detailing the outcomes and Improvement Plan resulting from phase three of the Best Value Review of Policy Development in the Environment Department.

The Director of Environment amplified areas of the report and in particular drew attention to the fact that following the challenge phase of the review, the Extended Review Team added a seventh outcome as detailed in paragraph 2.2 of the report - innovative, inclusive and integrated policies.

With regard to the Improvement Plan attached to the report, it was noted that for many of the Performance Indicators, information on current performance was not available and hence the target performance in 2005 had been left open to allow information to be collected and analysed. It was suggested in paragraph 6.2 of the report that future target performance be monitored by way of a Member `Implementation Monitoring Group', the establishment of which was considered very important. It was also noted that many of the actions proposed were to be implemented over a two year period. Officers reported that Year Two actions were significant and extra resources would be required to achieve implementation.

The Chief Executive expressed thanks to the Review Team, who had a difficult task and had remained very focussed throughout. A progress report on the Improvement Plan would be submitted to the Committee in March 2004.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Outcome Report and Improvement Plan be agreed as representing the views of the Committee.

2. That the Executive Member for Environment be advised of the outcome of the Best Value Review so that he can implement the Improvement Plan.

3. That arrangements be made for the Committee to receive any progress reports until the Improvement Plan was completed.

4. That a summary of the Review is prepared, in the standard format, for inclusion in the Best Value Performance Plan.

5. That an Implementation Monitoring Group be established, comprising Councillors Mrs P.M. Devereux, R.J. Kimber, M.J. Roberts and J.D. Shaw, to become involved in overseeing the implementation of the Improvement Plan.

135. MEASURING PERFORMANCE IN THE ENVIRONMENT

DEPARTMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 9 in the Minute Book) bringing to Members' attention the various Government and corporate performance measures and indicators that apply in the Environment Department. The Director of Environment amplified areas of the report, and in particular drew attention to paragraph 5 which listed a number of areas of work to explore how the effectiveness of the Environment Department's activities could be more clearly monitored and how a higher level of commitment to performance measurement could be generated amongst staff and Members alike.

For the purpose of clarity, some minor amendments to the report were noted as follows:-

Appendix - Page 1: BV84, columns 5 and 7, `kg' to be added after figures 509 and 514.

Appendix - Page 6: BU 109, column 2, percentage of applications determined to read "within 13 weeks".

RESOLVED:

1. That the position set out in the appendix in respect of the Best Value Performance Indicators and Local Public Service Agreement targets that are the responsibility of the Environment Department be noted.

2. That the actions listed in paragraph 5.2 were confirmed as the basis for developing performance measures for the Environment Department.

3. That a sub-group of the Committee be established, comprising Councillors W.J. Filer, P. Luffman and R.H. Price, to become involved in the target setting process and give consideration to how that involvement be both managed and informed.

136. MANAGEMENT REVIEW OF THE HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT CONTROL SERVICE

It was noted that Councillor J.E. Coles declared a personal interest as a member of New Forest District Council.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 10 in the Minute Book) detailing the outcomes of a management review carried out to look at the current procedures, involving both the County and District Councils, in the delivery of the highway aspects of major and minor road development proposals, design check and inspections of sections 38 and 278 Highway Agreements and in responding to the highway elements of land charge searches. The Director of Environment confirmed that the report was not a formal best value report but the principles of best value, namely challenge, compare, compete, consult had been adopted for the management review.

In respect of paragraph 4.3 of the report, letters received from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, East Hants District Council, Gosport Borough Council, New Forest District Council, Test Valley District Council and Winchester City Council were circulated to Members, the responses having been received after the despatch of the report.

It was noted that Members raised concerns that the proposed arrangements would lead to a substantial increase in respect of Section 38 Agreements and the implications for the County Council's Legal Department.

RESOLVED:

That given the volume and nature of the comments received, at a late stage, further consideration would be given to this item at the next meeting of the Committee. In the interim, it was agreed that a sub-group would be established to consider the issues raised, comprising Councillors J.E. Coles, C.R.H. Davidovitz, M.S. Geddes, R.J. Kimber, R.H. Price, P. Luffman and J.K. West.

137. BUS PRIORITY SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 11 in the Minute Book) detailing the background to a bus priority policy and the types of scheme and associated issues. During the ensuing discussions, consideration was given to the report's recommendation for a working group of the Committee's Members investigate aspects of the bus priority policy.

RESOLVED:

That a sub-group be established, comprising Councillors R.J. Kimber, R.H. Price and M.J. Roberts, to investigate bus priority policy issues and report back to the Committee at its next meeting with recommendations to be forwarded to the Executive Member for Environment.

138. ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE - FORWARD

PLAN

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment setting out issues which the Committee might wish to discuss at future meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and the following additions be made:

(i) Management Review of the Highway Development Control Service update - next meeting of the Committee

(ii) Waste and Natural Resources update - 29 October 2003 meeting

139. SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL - ST LUKES SCHOOL, SWAY

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive (Item 13 in the Minute Book) the purpose of which was to inform Members, in accordance with paragraph 1.16 of Part 3D of the Constitution, of an urgent decision taken in relation to developing safer routes to school at St Lukes School, Sway. The decision was made by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 11 April 2003, in the absence of the Executive Member for Environment.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

8AM61503

This content is archived